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A Chinese envoy on Tuesday called for a fairer, more inclusive, and more effective global health governance system during the general debate of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

Speaking on behalf of the Geneva-based Group of Friends of Global Governance (GFGG), Jia Guide, China's permanent representative and ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, emphasized that strengthening global health governance is not a choice but a shared responsibility for all countries to protect people's health and promote sustainable development.

He outlined three key principles to achieve this goal.

The first is equal participation, stressing that while countries have different national conditions, development stages, and health systems, their rights to participate in global health governance are equal, and the opinions and concerns of all parties, especially developing countries, should be fully heard, he said.

Noting that the second principle is multilateral cooperation, with China supporting the WHO in playing its core coordinating role, Jia called on all parties to enhance mutual respect and practical consultations to expand consensus, push for positive outcomes in the negotiations on the annexes to the pandemic agreement, and strengthen the international community's ability to prevent and respond to future public health crises.

The third principle is a people-centered approach, which calls for paying attention to the real needs of people in developing countries and supporting their efforts to build more resilient health systems and stronger autonomous disease control capacity, he said.

Jia also noted that new technologies such as artificial intelligence should serve people's health and empower health governance in a safe, responsible, and inclusive manner.

The GFGG, which was officially launched in February this year with China's facilitation, has so far gathered 47 member states as a platform for discussing reforms to improve global governance.

This joint statement delivered by Jia at the assembly broadly reflects the consensus of the group's members, contributing positive momentum to improving global health governance.